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Known for:	The Searchers, Mister Roberts, The Alamo
Birth name:	Curtis Wain Gates
Birthday:	2 July 1916, Lamar, Colorado, USA
Height:	6' (1.83 m)

Grew up in Las Animas, Colorado where his father, Dan Gates, was sheriff. As was the custom at the time, they lived above the jail and his mother, Nellie (Sneed) Gates, cooked for the prisoners. He once said he patterened "Festus" after a local character known as Cedar Jack, who lived about 40 miles out in the cedar hills and made a living cutting cedar fenceposts for farmers and ranchers. When he came to Las Animas he usually ended up drunk and in jail. This gave Curtis plenty of opportunity to observe him. Introduced the western standard, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" to movie audiences. Before acting career, sang with Tommy Dorsey's band and the Sons of the Pioneers. Son-in-law of director John Ford. Inducted (as a cast member of Gunsmoke) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1981. Early in his career he sang with Shep Fields' Orchestra. Although his character, Festus Haggen, was introduced to Gunsmoke in an episode called "Us Haggens," in which he arrived in Dodge City to avenge the death of his twin brother, the fact that Festus had a twin was never again mentioned on the show.

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